PHILADELPHIA — If you want to bump Billy Davis out of his comfort zone, remind the defensive coordinator how only one NFL team had fewer sacks per pass attempt than the Eagles last season.

And that it was the Dallas Cowboys.

Davis measures the pass rush in terms of the big picture. Only three teams had more takeaways last year than the Eagles, who came up with 31 and were tied for fourth with a plus-12 turnover ratio. Nineteen of those takeaways were interceptions, including six by slot cornerback Brandon Boykin.

Though the Eagles’ only pass rush addition of note is first-round pick Marcus Smith II, who led college football in sacks last year, Davis expects the rush to be better this year because the interchangeable parts are syncing up better.

“It’s not just a pass rush,” Davis said. “It’s rerouting of a receiver with coverage downfield. It’s false presentation of ‘hey, it’s two-deep, oh, no it’s three-deep coverage’ and the quarterback thinking about it. It’s all tied together. And then it is a pass rusher who’s not wasting steps, who’s not wasting movement. Does he move the quarterback?

“Trent Cole last year kept moving the quarterback off his spot without getting sacks. We were constantly seeing the quarterback come out the other way because Trent’s side was collapsing.”

To Davis, pressure is rattling Eli Manning into three intentional grounding penalties and three interceptions, the bulk of it in the fourth quarter of an early season Eagles victory last year.

“We’ve got to get off the field on third down,” Graham said. “And we have to get (the opposition) in third-and-long before that. On the first two downs, we’ve got to get them in third-and-long and then we’ve got to go get them afterwards. It falls on us.”

The Eagles were 24th in third down defense last year albeit with improvement down the homestretch. A chunk of the struggles came from the uncertainty of functioning in a new scheme. Life was just too easy for opposing quarterbacks and their targets.

“We want the receiver to have to beat somebody on a release,” Davis said. “We want the quarterback to get out of the pocket where he can’t step up, and the whole rhythm is broken down.”

How the Eagles accomplish that with NFL officials instructed to strictly enforce the 5-yard bump zone on receivers should be interesting.

While some players feel the officiating won’t be as strict in the regular season as in the preseason, Davis has told his guys the days of contact beyond 5 yards are over.

“The rule was 5 (yards) but you got about 7 1-2,” Davis said. “Now it’s 5 yards. You can’t use your hand to feel where the receiver is. It could be a penalty. It’s tougher to locate him.

“You’ve got to be able to play him without touching him. I think that we’ll adjust.”

With Nick Foles, LeSean McCoy, Zach Ertz and the offense set to build on a banner 2013 offensive campaign, the Eagles are going to get leads. With Foles starting the Eagles were 7-0 when they scored first.

The pass rush is going to be key.

“When you’re a DB it makes it a lot easier,” safety Earl Wolff said. “That’s shorter that you have to cover. Sometimes you think you have your man, the quarterback scrambles and you lose him for a second. It’s those little things. Or the quarterback is feeling pressure and he might throw off his back foot or he might just kind of chuck it away, chuck and duck. That makes it easier for us to make plays.

“We have a great front seven. I really can’t wait. I feel like we kind of showed a preview of how we’re going to be in our preseason games against the Steelers.”

The Eagles unveiled part of their pressure packages featuring the blitzing Kendricks against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who didn’t do much of an anything against the first-team defense and was intercepted. With stricter enforcement of the no-bump zone, look for more blitzes.

“You’re better off, if the guy has to cover him the whole time anyway, let’s bring six, let’s overload it so the ball has to come out ugly,” Davis said. “More pressure will help the ball come out quicker.”